I-96 shooting spree suspect Raulie Casteel is escorted out of Oakland County Court after a hearing on Nov. 14.MLive File Photo

HOWELL, MI — Raulie Casteel was deemed competent to stand trial on terrorism and other charges tied to a string of 24 shootings along the Interstate 96 corridor in October.

Casteel, 43, was not present for the hearing that lasted about two minutes at 53rd District Court in Howell on Wednesday morning. He is in an Oakland County jail.

He faces life in prison if convicted of terrorism and assault with intent to murder. Those two charges, along with five felony firearm counts, were brought by Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Schuette is prosecuting the case for Livingston, Shiawassee and Ingham counties. Casteel is scheduled for a similar competency hearing in Oakland County on Thursday. That case is using the same report from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti.

The report filed today did not include a criminal responsibly test, said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.

A pre-exam conference is scheduled for next week. A preliminary hearing in the attorney general's case has not yet been scheduled, though defense attorney Charles Groh said he expects the Oakland County case to hold a preliminary hearing first.

Casteel, an unemployed geologist, was arrested on Oct. 17 after a police task force made up of local, state and federal investigators matched his gun to bullet fragments recovered from victims' vehicles.

One person was injured in the shootings - a Delton man who was shot in the buttocks while driving along I-96 on his way to Detroit on Oct. 27.

“If you don’t charge terrorism here, what exactly are you waiting for? The entire mid-Michigan community was terrified,” Yearout said. “People were altering their routes, and a gigantic multijurisdictional task force that was unprecedented had to be created.”

Casteel’s lawyer did not comment beyond confirming the case schedule. Casteel’s sister also attended the hearing and declined to comment.